


Seek Home for Rest, for Home is Best

by Meatball42



Series: Rare Pairs [30]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Geeky, Grief/Mourning, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 05:36:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5955622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meatball42/pseuds/Meatball42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rhodey is hurt, he knows where to go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seek Home for Rest, for Home is Best

**Author's Note:**

  * For [paperclipbitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperclipbitch/gifts).



> Title is a quote by Thomas Tusser.
> 
>  *****Content warning for tactical description of military death***** New one on me.

Tony was woken up from his work zone the first time Pepper said his name. Usually it took more than that, but there was a particular subdued tone in her voice that made him turn attentively. She had a bruised look about her. He stood up before she reached him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Rhodey’s on his way, but he’s not hurt. He’s on leave.”

“He doesn’t have a leave coming up, Jarvis did I forget-?”

“No, Tony,” Pepper interrupts. “It’s a bereavement leave. One of the men in his division was killed by sniper fire.”

“Rhodey’s not hurt?” Tony says sharply.

“No.” Pepper closes her eyes for a moment, centering herself. Her hands, folded together in that business pose she’s perfected, are turning white where they’re pressing against each other too hard. Then, she lets out a full breath and her whole posture relaxes. It’s fake, but convincing. “He sent ahead an itinerary. I’ve arranged some of it, but I’m going to need your help for the rest.”

“...an itinerary?” Tony repeats incredulously. “What is this, a tour visit?”

Pepper gives him a sharp look. “You like to be spontaneous. I like to plan things out. Jim has kindly arranged a middle ground. Jarvis, could you project the plans from my server?”

_“Of course.”_

Rhodey’s itinerary and Pepper’s more detailed plan scroll down a holoscreen in the middle of the workshop. Tony skims quickly, and grins. “Pep, I like the way you think.”

Pepper rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling, too.

~~~~~

They have their arms hooked around each others’ necks, and that makes it a bit difficult to walk when they stumble out of the club, paying no mind to the bevy of women and tagalongs who follow. Tony’s face is mashed into Rhodey’s neck and he can’t breath for giggling. Rhodey is laughing loudly above him. Tony can’t remember what’s funny anymore, but it doesn’t really matter.

“Are you boys ready to head home?” asks a polished and mildly amused voice from behind them.

Tony peeks over Rhodey’s shoulder. Pepper is wearing a vivid green silk top, cut to her body yet not slutty, and a dark skirt painted on her hips and thighs, along with her usual killer heels. It’s the perfect combination of sultry and stylish, but what comes out of his mouth is, “Fuck Pep, you’re hot.”

Rhodey sounds like he’s crying.

Pepper makes a face that says ‘I signed up for this, why did I sign up for this?’ “Thank you Tony. Are you ready to head home?”

“No!” he shouts, as loudly as he can with lungs still constricted from the bowls they’d passed around. He takes a breath before continuing. “Who wants to hit the Strand!”

There’s confused cheering from the crowd around them.

“I mean, who wants to hit Marquee!”

Screams erupt around them, the good kind. Rhodey howls approval. Pepper shakes her head, but starts texting.

~~~~~

“I think the last club was a mistake,” Rhodey mumbles.

Tony peels his face off his own leather couch. At least it is the most comfortable possible leather couch to peel your face off, if he does say so himself. “Marquee--” he swallows painfully “--never a mistake. The last bottle was a mistake.”

The elevator blings, and Pepper’s heels click-clack into Tony’s open-plan living room. They get muffled when she hits the rug, and that’s probably a sign that he should open his eyes, but he doesn’t.

“Enjoying the leftovers?” she comments, far too loudly and with far too much vindictive pleasure. “There’s water and aspirin on the table. We’re having brunch at Le Pain Quotidien in an hour. I expect you to be washed and dressed by then.”

“Yes Mom.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

Pepper sniffs, and Tony stifles a laugh into the couch. It makes his head hurt more.

An hour and a half later, his head is only aching the normal amount as he tucks into lox and a cappuccino. Rhodey, whose liver is not as advanced as Tony’s, clearly, is staring listlessly down at a frittata and café au lait. Tony would feel bad, but ‘ _get drunk and party hard_ ’ was on the itinerary.

Across the table, Pepper is speaking fluent French with one of the waiters. She loves this place and knows most of the staff, and they love her; there’s a complementary pain au chocolat tucked by her elbow as evidence.

At least someone is enjoying the morning.

Another hour finds them at the Strand. Tony is surprised when Happy pulls up to it on 13th, but it does fit into ‘ _acting like normal people_ ,’ so he doesn’t protest. They spend a while just wandering through the floors, losing and finding Pepper in Art From Around the World and Rhodey in Sci-fi and Tony in Comics & Graphic Novels, and eventually pile around a dozen books at the register. A few people come up to each of them for autographs, but New Yorkers are, for the most part, chill, and Tony ticks ‘ _acting like normal people_ ’ off his mental list.

Laden with their book bags, Tony leads the daring trek to Forbidden Planet next door. Tony straight off buys the R2-D2 model in the front window, swearing that he’ll make it work like the real thing, then trades suggestions for gizmos with Rhodey while Pepper rolls her eyes and makes arrangements for transport. Rhodey disappears for a few minutes, and Pepper finds him lurking by the comics, nose stuck deep in an old Wonder Woman. When he insists he’ll be ‘three more minutes,’ she returns to Tony, only to discover a vicious and spreading argument about the specifications and abilities of the starship Enterprise. Declaring herself off-duty, she heads to the manga shelves, where she locates the new Fullmetal Alchemist to buy and returns to Rhodey, where they read silently together.

Another hour later, once management shuts down Tony’s geektalk (and a new crowd starts coming in, attracted by the social media advertisement of Tony Stark having a geektalk by Union Square), Rhodey navigates them out to the street and up half a block to the Union Square Regal. They argue for ten minutes about what movie to watch, and eventually buy tickets to Steve Jobs (Tony wants to heckle, Pepper has a thing for Michael Fassbender, and Rhodey wanted to catch The Martian, since he’d been out of the country, but Tony and Pepper had already seen it four times, and Pepper claimed she would gouge her eyes out if she was forced to watch it again).

After the movie, there’s a silent agreement to head back to the Tower. They order food on the way, and it arrives by the time they’re settled on the deep couches in the entertainment room. Rhodey cues up Firefly, and they talk through it, catching up on the last five months, mocking and being nostalgic and flirting. Tony breaks out whiskey, and that helps. Pepper’s head is in Rhodey’s lap by the time he waves for Jarvis to lower the volume.

“His name was Brandon. Staff Sergeant Brandon Dorner. I recruited him to the unit myself.” He watches the ice cubes in his drink as he swirls it around. “Enlisted straight out of high school, worked his way up. No formal training in advanced weapons systems, but the kid could find weak spots in security like no one else on the team. He was going places.”

Rhodey finishes the rest of the tumbler. Without comment, Tony refills it. That’s his part in this: ' _I talk, Tony shuts up._ ’

“We were doing a perimeter survey of a base when they opened fire. It was a concentrated attack. They had a target.”

“Oh Jim,” Pepper breaths.

Rhodey clenches his teeth. “It was either me or the ranking officer on base, who was touring with us. Either way. Dorner coordinated civilian movement and protection during the first half of the attack. It wasn’t his position, he could have just gotten to safety, but he stepped up.”

Pepper squeezes Rhodey’s hand. “How’s his family?”

“Mother, sisters, girlfriend back home. Devastated. I didn’t break the news to them myself, but I spoke with them after. I promised his mother I’d nominate him for the Medal of Honor. But it’s not going to be enough. It could never be enough.”

“He’s a hero, and he should be recognized,” Pepper says clearly. “Stark Industries still has pull, if you want us to back up the recommendation.”

Rhodey’s lips curve up just a bit. “I’d appreciate that.”

Pepper nods smartly and sits up. She offers her own glass to Tony, who refills it and his own. “To Brandon,” she says solemnly.

They all raise their glasses and drink silently.

When his drink is gone, Rhodey sets his glass on the coffee table with a clink. Then he leans into Pepper and kisses her, wrapping an arm around her waist the press her close. Pepper holds out her glass blindly and Tony takes it with an affectionate smile.

Time for ‘ _private time with the people I love_ ,’ it seems.

Pepper slides neatly onto Rhodey’s lap. The kiss that started slow and tender, a new beginning  after the months Rhodey’s been deployed, heats up as wistfulness is overtaken by the memory of passion. Tony enjoys the view, very much so. But he only lasts a minute until he’s on his knees next to Rhodey and nudging for his turn.

Rhodey breaks the kiss with Pepper and grins, letting Tony take his fair share. Tony doesn’t wait; he dives right in at full power. Rhodey groans appreciatively and shifts his weight on the couch, letting Pepper cop a feel if her happy murmur is any sign. She’s kissing Rhodey’s neck and unbuttoning his shirt when Rhodey says to wait.

“I’ve really missed our bed,” he tells them, and in a split second Tony’s standing, helping Pepper up with one gentlemanly hand and groping her ass with the other.

“It is pretty nice. You’d better not wait around here then.” He scoops up Pepper and tosses her over his shoulder, eliciting an uninhibited scream, and takes off for the bedroom. The penthouse echoes with Pepper’s shrieks and Rhodey’s full-bodied laugh, and for the first time in five months, it feels like home.


End file.
